Chapter 3

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The third time Bernard ran into Jacob, it was by accident. He was wandering around the village after successfully obtaining a meal when he spotted the man outside of a wood shop. Jacob sat on a stool, carving wood. Curious, Bernard moved closer. He was nearly upon the shop when the man looked up from his work.

Jacob smiled at him. "Hello there, Bernard. Are you hungry?"

"No." Bernard's eyes flickered to the spherical object in the man's hands. "What are you doing?"

"I am carving a top. I am a toy maker. Would you like one?"

Bernard bristled. "I told you, I'm not a kid."

Jacob chuckled. "I remember, but adults can enjoy toys as well. This one is fun. Let me show you." He set the unfinished top on a wooden bench before reaching for a pile of toys. He took a small object and showed it to Bernard. It was shaped like a head of garlic but painted in colors of red, blue and green. A think, orange ribbon was attached to the larger part of the toy.

"It's pretty, I suppose."

Jacob grinned. "Wait until you see it in action." He wrapped the ribbon around the top until it was entirely covered. Then he knelt on the floor and held the top to the ground with the point side down. In one quick motion, he yanked on the ribbon. The top began to spin rapidly, the colors swirling together beautifully. Bernard found himself mesmerized.

"Wow."

The spinning top slowed until it eventually wobbled before falling to the floor. Jacob picked up the object and held it out to Bernard. "If you like it so much, you can have it."

Bernad stared at the top for a long minute. Finally he held out his hands, allowing the man to drop the toy into them. He still did not understand this guy, but he was starting to believe he really did not mean him harm. The least he could do was be polite. "Thank you."

Jacob smiled. "I hope you enjoy it."

"Why are you being nice to me?" If the man did not have ulterior motives after all, he did not see what he had to gain from his actions.

Jacob appeared surprised at the question. "I believe everyone deserves respect. It's the way I was raised, I suppose."

"But I'm-"

"You're no different than anyone else. You need kindness just as much as everyone else here."

Bernard averted his gaze. "I see." Time would tell if he meant it. "I have to go."

"Very well. I hope you have a nice day. And feel free to come back anytime. I'm always working on something new."

Bernard left without saying anything. He still did not completely trust this guy. However, he was willing to consider that he may have been wrong.

2005

"Wow, this place is amazing," Brooke said.

Realizing her voice was too distant, Bernard stopped and sighed. He turned around to find the girl stopped in the middle of the street, admiring the buildings. "Hurry it up. We don't have all day."

"Oh, sorry." Brooke jogged to catch up with him, and the resumed walking together. "I just want to take everything in so I don't get lost when I'm on my own."

"You're not going to be alone. You're a guest, and someone should be with you at all times."

"Well, you never know when there's going to be an emergency."

Bernard wondered what types of emergencies she thought happened at the North Pole. Yesterday had been exceptional. "Just try to keep up. There is a lot to see."

Brooke smiled. "I can't wait." She lifted her head up. "What is that dome made of? And how does it hide the city?"

"It's too complicated for you to understand."

"Hey, I went to college!"

Bernard gave her a look. "Did they teach about elves and magic in college?"

Brooke's eyes widened. "Magic?" Then her attention was caught by something else. "Hey, what's this!" She ran off before he could stop her.

"That the Star Shard." A huge, glittering white spike stood in the center of the square surrounded by a tall, golden fence. "This is where elves - and Santa - get their magic. It is extremely important, so do not touch it."

"Wait, magic isn't innate for elves?"

"No. Let's go." Bernard turned on his heels, hoping she would follow. He really did not want to give away their secrets all in one day. Not that anyone would believe her if she told them. Reality was not exactly in line with common lore. "It's time to head to the workshop. We need to find you a temporary job. What are you good at?"

"Writing."

Bernard tried to think how that was useful but came up with nothing. "Something related to toy-making. Are you good with your hands?"

Brooke frowned. "I don't know, I've never tried. But I am a quick learner!"

That was just great. "Fine. I'll find a place for you."

Brooke brightened at this. "Thanks, Bernard!"

A minute later, they entered the workshop. By then, Bernard knew where to start. He led Brooke to an area of the workshop where elves were painting wooden trains and cars. "Edwin," he said to the elf in charge of the station, "I have a new worker for you."

Edwin looked at Brooke. "Can she paint?"

"I painted when I was a kid," Brooke said.

"She majored in creative writing," Bernard said, "which makes her creative. Painting is a creative activity."

"I suppose so," Edwin said, frowning slightly.

"Don't I need some kind of training?" Brooke asked.

"It's easy," said Bernard. "You'll be fine." He nodded at Edwin. "Let me know if there are any problems."

Edwin left Brooke alone and continued his rounds. Everything appeared to be in order. He had hardly sat down at his desk when there was a knock on the door. Then an angry looking Edwin appeared.

"This isn't working out!" said the elf.

Bernard frowned. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? There's paint everywhere!" Edwin threw up his arms. "On the walls, on the ceiling, on Brooke. Everywhere except where they're supposed to be - on the toy!"

Bernard sighed. "I'm sorry, Edwin. I'll find someplace else for her to work."

"Thank you!"

Muttering to himself, Bernard went to retrieve Brooke. When he asked her what happened, she gave him a sheepish look and said, "I guess I was too enthusiastic. I got into the creative spirit."

"Then I'll give you a job where you won't get lost in creativity," Bernard said. "A job where you simply have to follow directions. Can you handle that?"

Brooke smiled. "You bet!"

"Good." Bernard stopped at the next station. "You'll be putting together wooden animals. Just follow Jonie's lead."

"You got it, Bernard!"

The head elf did not think there was a way she could mess this up. He was wrong. A half hour after working in his office, Jonie entered, not appearing pleased. "Brooke is a disaster," she said.

"What do you mean?" Bernard said.

Jonie held up the body of some sort of animal. "Look. She tried too hard and cracked the wood." Then she revealed another animal. This one had a dog's head where it's tail should be. "She is no good at this."

Bernard shook his head. "I see. I'll find someplace else for her to work."

"You better."

And Bernard did find a job for Brooke sorting toys. It was not long before he heard from the supervisor, begging him to relocate her. Begrudgingly, he found the girl a new job... and then a new job. By the end of the day, she had gone through a dozen jobs that she messed up. And Bernard had hardly gotten any work done himself.

"What is wrong with you?" he snapped as he brought her into his office.

Brooke flinched. "I'm sorry. I've never done any of this before."

"But most people would be at least decent at one of the jobs! I've never seen anyone do everything so horribly wrong. And you say you want to be an elf?"

Brooke bit her lip and looked away. "Sorry."

"And you don't have anything to say for yourself?"

Brooke shook her head. "You're right. And what you're saying is nothing I haven't heard before. I know I'm not good at anything. I just thought-" She broke off and cast her gaze to the ground.

Bernard sighed. Getting angry was not going to help the situation. He was stuck with her whether he liked it or not. "There has to be something you're good at. I'll figure something out, and we can start fresh tomorrow. I'll taking you to the dining hall."

"I know where it is." Brooke left the room before he could object. A shard of guilt nagged at him, but he pushed it away. It was not his fault she had no skills. He needed to make sure Christmas ran smoothly, and he could not let her get in the way.

Brooke did not pay much attention to the food she chose. She thought it was some sort of fish. Luckily she had found the dining hall just fine. She did not want to embarrass herself after insisting to Bernard she knew the way. She had done plenty enough of that for one day.

Elves littered the seating area this time. She had to wind around the tables for awhile to find an empty one. She would have sat with some of the elves, but she did not feel up to company at the moment. She sat down and poked at her food with her fork. How had everything gone so horribly wrong so quickly?

"Hello, Brooke," said a familiar voice. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

Brooke looked up at Judy. "Not at all."

Judy smiled and sat across from her at the round table. "How was your first day?"

"Terrible." Brooke stabbed her fish. "I went through so many jobs, and I couldn't do any of them right."

Judy gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sure you'll be good at something eventually. You know, it took me 1200 years to get my hot cocoa recipe just right."

Brooke looked at her in surprise. Just how long did elves live? "Wow. Maybe you're right. I hope it won't take me that long though. I don't want to keep disappointing Bernard. He was kind of fed up with me today and let me have it."

"He can get like that sometimes, but he's really kind at heart."

"Oh, I know. He saved my life. He must be kind. He's probably under a lot of stress. He seems to have a lot of responsibilities. I wish there was something I could do to help him instead of making his life harder."

Judy smiled. "I think you two will get along just fine. And if you want to help Bernard relax, I know an activity he enjoys that you can do together."

Brooke brightened. "Really? What is it?" Judy leaned in close and spoke in a low voice. Brooke grinned. That was perfect!

Brooke quickly ate her food while occasionally chatting with Judy. Then she was off. She stopped at Bernard's office, staring at the closed door. Would he really still be in there? Only one way to find out. She knocked. "Come in," said Bernard's voice.

Brooke slipped inside and saw him working on paperwork. "Hey," she said with a weak smile.

Bernard looked up from his desk. "Hey, Brooke. Do you need something?"

"Well, sort of," she said. "I was wondering if you'd go outside with me for a few minutes."

Bernard frowned. "I have a lot of work to do. I'm behind."

Brooke pushed back her guilt. "But I think you could use a break, and I don't want to get lost." She offered him her best smile. "Please?"

Bernard sighed. "Fine, but only for a few minutes."

"Great!" She held the door open for him and then let him lead the way outside. The cold, night air felt chilly, but she kept her plan in mind.

"What exactly did you want to do out here?"

Brooke noticed he was looking at the sky. Perfect. She slowly moved to the side where she found a nice, clean snow. How did it snow in here with that dome? She filed away the question for another time. She waited until she had a snowball in hand before replying. "I just wanted to have some fun."

Bernard turned to her. "What do you-" The snowball in his face stopped him in his tracks. Brooke grinned as he gaped at her. When he said nothing, she wondered if Judy had been wrong. Then a mischievous look crossed his face. "You're in for it now!" He moved toward her, and she gasped.

Brooke had a new snowball by the time Bernard reached her. He dodged this one and then quickly got her in the shoulder. He was fast! She moved behind a tree to hide and focus on making ammo. It did not take long before he was on her again. What ensued was a long, tough battle. She tried her best, but in the end, she fell to the more experienced elf.

"That was something else," Brooke said. She and Bernard laid next to each other in the snow, the cold substance cooling them after their exercise.

"Someone told you about our favorite pastime," Bernard said.

"I thought we both could use it."

Bernard sat up. "Thanks." He offered her his hand. She took it, and they both stood up. "How about some hot cocoa?" He smiled at her making her heart flip.

"Sounds great." The two of them headed inside together. Brooke smiled to herself, feeling like this day was not a total failure after all.

Bernard did not want a repeat of the previous day, so he decided on something different. "You will be my assistant," he said when she arrived in his office in the morning.

Brooke stared at him blankly. "Assistant?"

"Yes. I am very busy, and it would help me if you could take care of some menial tasks."

Brooke frowned. "That doesn't sound very exciting, but I guess I can give it a try if it will help you."

Bernard nodded. "Good. I am going to start my rounds. Will you take notes?"

"Sure."

Bernard handed her a notebook and pen before heading out. He conducted his patrol as normal, talking to the supervisors while Brooke took notes. He was pleasantly surprised when nothing went wrong. They returned to his office right at the normal time.

"Very good," Bernard said. "May I see what you wrote?" Brooke handed him the notebook. He looked it over, frowning. "Most of this isn't relevant!"

"Well, you never told me what to write," Brooke said.

Bernard sighed. Did he have to spell out everything? "It's fine. This is better than nothing. I have something else for you to do." He rummaged in his drawer and pulled out a stack of papers. "Sort this by topic."

Brooke bit her lip, looking at the papers with uncertainty. "If that's what you want."

"I have an important meeting, so just stay here and work on that." He left the room before she could protest.

Bernard meandered through the workshop until he reached another hallway. The elf he was searching for exited the room before he could enter himself. "Oh, Bernard," he said. "Great timing. I was just about to find you."

"Hello, Malon," Bernard said. "Is everyone ready?"

Malon nodded. "Yes. They're all very excited to meet you. Let's go inside."

Bernard took a moment to mentally prepare himself. Every three months, the head recruiter Malon brought in new elves to be trained in the workshop. Elves retired every year and the population of children increased every year, so new recruits were always needed. He entered the room, and his eyes fell on the eight elves standing in a line. Eight. That made for 34 new elves for the entire year. It was not nearly enough. They needed at least 50 a year to keep up with the workload.

Bernard should have expected this. Until the year 2001, the number of new recruits increased each year. Since 2002, the numbers had gone down. He had hoped it was just a fluke, but four years in a row made it a pattern. If he let this go on much longer, the future of Christmas could be in serious jeopardy. He would address the problem later, though. For now, he needed to appear confident and in control for these new elves.

"This is him," Malon said. "Our head elf, Bernard."

Bernard plastered on a big smile. "Hello, everyone," he said. "Welcome to the North Pole. I am sure you are all excited to get started." The elves murmured their agreement. "There is a lot that goes into working at Santa's workshop, however. You need the proper training."

"When do we get to meet Santa?" asked a girl with the appearance of a seven-year-old.

"All in good time. Why don't we go around and introduce ourselves?"

"Then we will take you on a tour," Malon said. "We may even run into Santa."

The elves chatted excitedly, and Bernard had to clear his throat to regain their attention. Well, they certainly had the right attitude for working here. If these recruits proved to be high quality, perhaps they would do for now.

After the tour, Bernard helped the new elves find their temporary rooming accommodations. Then he returned to his office, where he found Brooke sitting in the middle of the floor with papers scattered everywhere. "What happened?" he exclaimed.

Brooke jumped to her feet. "I'm sorry! I'll clean it up."

Bernard sighed. "It's fine. Take a break for lunch." It seemed he might have to find yet another job for her, but where else could he put her?

Brooke appeared dejected when she accompanied him for another round of patrol after lunch. "Relax," he told her. "You don't have to take notes this time." Her notes had not been helpful. They reached the station where elves stitched together teddy bears.

"Wow, those are beautiful," Brooke said, instantly appearing brighter. "You're all doing a great job." She turned to a a young, female elf. "Based on what you said this morning, I think you should consider this..."

The supervisor had to snap his fingers to get Bernard's attention. Bernard forced his gaze away from Brooke, a weird feeling in his stomach. The way she encouraged the elves sounded like someone else he had known. He shook his head and returned to the task at hand. He could not think about that right now. He had more important things to worry about. He had a job to do.